Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Who are the people behind this blog? The old timers will know so let me help the newer people in chess understand what is really going on.

Let me go back to 2009 to give you a more complete picture. At that time there were no written selection in MCF and Greg Lau was the new Secretary replacing Hamid. The first attempt at written selection, to the best of my knowledge, was tried in PICA (Perak Chess Association). That attempt lead to the expulsion of the committee member who tried to bring it in. Me.

I then shared my experience with Greg and argued why written selection was important to close the back doors. Greg then attempted the same thing in MCF in 2010. And these bloggers appeared. And FGM blog together with other bloggers attempted to support that effort. The very first written selection appeared in 2010 after a fierce fight on the blogs. And that was for NAG.

Later, National Juniors also came up with a written selection and finally National Close in 2013.

And all this while these bloggers have been attacking from the dark.

The selection procedure is still not perfect. This year there were accusations levied on the use of chess engines during National Close. But it is still a very much more improved situation from before where the players represented Malaysia based on favoritism. And we are beginning to see results. Did we not see a better quality of players coming out from selection? Given a little more time will we not see even more improvements?

I had a chat with Greg during National Rapids. He asked me this question. How do we get more sponsors into chess? My answer was to clean up selection even more. When good sponsors see that MCF is serious about bringing out strong chess players, they will come.

But more needs to be done. We also need to stop these bloggers from slandering people and sponsors when they do come onboard. (For those that remember these bloggers also attacked the first training by a GM sponsored by Air Asia, before International competition).

So let me tell you what these bloggers really want. They want to knock out anybody that wants to build up chess. They want a return to the old days where they can play for Malaysia without having to compete.

These bloggers need to be stopped for the final piece of the puzzle to fall in place and chess will blossom in Malaysia. For these people will prevent any decent sponsors from supporting chess. Nobody good will support chess if they find their reputations sullied by these people who attacks from the dark.

So MCF, finish the game. Checkmate them. They are the enemy from within. It has taken many years of fierce fighting to get to where we are now. It started in 2009. All that effort just to do something so obvious as having a proper written selection has taken so long to implement. Don't let it go to waste.

Sunday, September 28, 2014

During the event the Chief Arbiter announced that no player can leave the playing area. And toilet breaks are a maximum of 5 minutes or the player will be disqualified.

I believe many are aware that there was the suspicion of a player using chess engine during our National Close. So I hope this ruling will also be applied at our next National Close. It is important that we continue to close the loop holes for cheating if we want our chess to progress.

Those players that rely on the back doors, by passing each other points etc will not do well overseas. If they also try to cheat there then they will become a National embarrassment.

In the post below, the video argued that liars have more white matter than grey matter which is necessary for deep reasoning. I interpreted liars to indicate learning the art of pusing pusing ie distraction, deflection, sabotage etc. If that is so, then what is deep reasoning?

Allow me to use our experience of this year's National Close. We were informed from the schedule of tournaments that National Close was in June. And so we planned accordingly. We started out last year in December by going to the Philippines to train with their National Junior and his trainer. We then planned our training sessions as well as our tournament runs to peak just before National Close. When the date got changed to Feb, leaving us 4 months short, our entire training regime was crippled and we just had to make do and go not fully prepared.

So how does this relate to deep reasoning? If you go back to my article above, I think you will see that part of how deep reasoning is developed is from analyzing our prediction of results from our training against actual results achieved. This will enable us to improve for the following year.

I now put it to you to answer this question. Is it possible that one core reason we do not have a GM is because we do not have a culture of training tied to goal setting? Without that we cannot develop deep reasoning for we are constantly surprised by that goal post that keeps moving. For the treatment of moving goal posts is getting an insider track as to actually when the tournament will be held instead of developing the best training and preparation system.

Do you think I have a point? Could that be why we don't have a GM despite our vast resources and depth in talent when our much poorer neighbours can? These things count do they not?

Saturday, September 27, 2014

Many reasons have been postulated as to why we don't have a GM yet despite us having superior resources and depth in talent when our poorer neighbors can. I suspect the main reason is that we have been unable to develop deep thinking within our chess culture. Have a look at the video above. Can you see what I mean?

Thursday, September 25, 2014

I have always said that if you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem. Without doubt Malaysia has a long way to go before we will get a strong player on the International arena. But is what Peter saying a fair assessment? I don't think so. Let me explain.

Peter talks about Kasparov and the sponsorship he promised for Malaysia which Peter covets but probably won't get now. But isn't his attitude symptomatic of all that is wrong with Malaysian chess? Peter wants to be spoonfed.

The fact is we just got a criteria of sorts for selection for the Olympiad squad this year only when there were none before. So that is an improvement. So what we need to do is to improve that criteria even further.

The fact is that KLCA is the most dysfunctional Association in Malaysian chess with almost zero transparent activity for Kuala Lumpur and that association is helmed by Peter.

The fact is that Peter is using KLCA to hammer his competitors running training schools.

There are now more training schools in KL and they have better trainers available for the KL kids than what Peter can provide but since KLCA is not functioning they have no platform.

So Peter, both you and Jimmy have been a part of the problem in Malaysian chess. You have been participant in all the politics for back door entries that have crippled Malaysian chess for so long.

So I suggest you do something to improve things within your sphere of influence. My suggestion is you leave KLCA and allow others to enable it to function as it was meant to function and then you learn how to actually train players who can compete instead on relying on the back doors.

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

First of all I think there is slander. Second I think it is divisive. And third I think the guy who runs the least constructive and the least transparent chess Association in Malaysia should not talk about chess affairs.

Monday, August 18, 2014

We have achieved one of the best results in recent years. Allow me to give my perspective as well as a little history. It may not be apparent but I believe this is the fruit of implementing written selection criteria for the first time in 2009. The very first actually appeared on this blog after I was privately passed it via a parent. My reason for publishing it then was that selection criteria should not only be known by a few privileged people but available to all that will be participating in the competition. Too often the goal posts have been moved in the past because it was inside information only. Matters snow balled from there.

So Tromso, is the first Olympiad where there is some semblance of a written selection. The previous teams were available only to the back door boys. And the culture then was a play in perception for qualification to the senior Malaysian team. Methods used were threats against players who dared to compete, playing select tournaments to give perception of strength. Claiming to be a "Master" although afraid to play in tough tournaments etc etc etc.

But today's games are different. We can see in real time and analyse how our players are doing. So there is nowhere to hide. So we see that a few players who applied the methods mentioned above are no longer playing in our national team.

And so we have progressed a little for the first time in many many years.

However I hope this is just the beginning of our resurgence and not just a temporary glitch and we go back to the old days of the back doors. We need to continue to tighten our selection criteria even further. This year there was the suspicion of chess engine usage raised. I hope that next year MCF will cut off that loophole as well. There is also another matter of point passing on the top tables. This is very serious but not easy to solve. If MCF can find ways of identifying those that practices this and then levying penalties then our future will be much brighter.

Chess is a competitive mind sport. If our players cannot perform here without cheating then they will not do well overseas. If they try cheating overseas then they will be a national embarrassment if they get caught.

Still I want to give acknowledgment to the committee members within MCF who have heard our complaints and have taken action to improve. We have improved. No doubt about that. A lot of the deadwood who cannot play competitive chess anymore but still want to play for Malaysia are gone.

It has been a hard struggle to improve given the resistance of the people who wanted the back doors retained but I think it has been worth it.

So kudos to those committee members within MCF who has fought the good fight. My deepest appreciation and heartiest congratulations.

And my congratulations also to the players of the senior Malaysian squad who earned their place in clean competition. You know who you are.

We have the talent and we have the resources to become a great chess nation. But only if we keep going forward.

Malaysia Truly Boleh. But we must also believe that deeply in ourselves.

Sunday, August 17, 2014

Thank you for your honest comment. I believe you have come to the correct decision in abstaining from match fixing but allow me to tell you here my own thought processes and approach to it. The first thing is that match fixing stops your development. Why? Read below first.

Let's be honest. Very few if any has the drive and ambition or resources to become a GM. But almost anyone can benefit from the lessons of chess. And that benefit as explained in the link above comes when we learn to compete without cheating. Can you see that? And that is not an easy lesson to learn. Take for example Mark's own journey in the one time he "cheated". He broke under the intense pressure of the NJ Championship in 2010 where he almost became Champion. To cut a long story short he accepted a point he did not deserve but chose to come clean when confronted. So enough pressure can break anyone. But once that becomes a habit then you stop learning. The real benefit comes from analyzing how the pressure got to you and to find ways to become stronger next time without cheating. Clearer?

We have encountered match fixing almost every year since 2005 when Mark became Perak U12 Champion. This year we suspected the use of chess engine during National Close. Our approach is to now find a way to beat the use of chess engine usage in tournaments without cheating ourselves. So we need to learn even more. That is my approach. It is always about learning. And you don't learn if you cheat.

So my approach to chess is different from the approach taken before. I focus on competitor analysis and strategy and not merely the technical aspect of the game.

Let me also correct a misconception on your part. Mark was already a 1900 in 2009 when he got his first Fide rating. 1500 is around MSSM level. What we learnt from Norlito, Paulo's father, were refinements in our technical knowledge to enable us to breach the Master level. But Mark's playing strength was already above 2000 by then. Another point which may have escaped your attention is that we do not play most tournaments to win or for ratings but to learn. This is so that we can apply what we have learnt in the tournaments that count.

Now if you go back to that link again, you will also see that I wrote about setting realistic goals. What does this mean? Well in our case it means that we need to modify our goals according to realistic conditions. Mark has just entered University and so he must now adjust his priorities. Chess has to take a lower priority for the moment. It doesn't mean we have stopped. It just means that priorities have changed till conditions also change.

We are still moving but at a slower pace. We do not want to drop the ball.

I am still writing and talking more on my FB so you are welcome to join my page. I accept most chess players.

Kim Yaw,

We do a beginners package that can bring players to the 1500 level but Mark is in charge of that. So do ask him if you get the chance. I only come in as a Coach at the higher competitive levels where deeper strategies are needed.

However I am still continuing to see if I can bring up my Academy again. One of the conditions I have set myself is my ability to protect my players against threats. My inability to stop that is the main reason why I don't take any more students.

You see, the responsibility to stop match fixing and threats to players that want to play clean chess and learn from the game lies with the Associations and MCF. My responsibility is to train my players to be the best players they can be according to their own set goals.

I see some improvements in the selection this year but still some hanky panky. But at least some of the back doors have been shut. And the day MCF realises that almost all the back door players will self destruct will be the day I will play a more active role again. But I will continue to do what I can and improve my own knowledge in the meantime albeit in a smaller way.

Thank you for writing in. I hope I have answered your questions and given you some ideas on how to move forward.

In a nutshell I define competition as improving our skills and not in cheating in all it's many ways. Learning to improve ourselves will take all the energy we have and so there is none to spare in learning how to match fix, which is also very time consuming.Ergo, you cannot learn all the things I said you can learn from chess and learn to cheat at the same time. And I believe my way takes you much further. All in due time. There is no rush.

Sunday, August 3, 2014

I always start my chess lessons by saying that Chess as a game has 4 major components that determines strategy and affect results. Those 4 components are the time frame of the game, your opponents skills and weaknesses, your skills and weaknesses and what is happening in front of you ie the board.

But today let us talk about this from the perspective of goal setting. Can you see that goal setting has a direct relationship to the time frame available?

If you can then I think you will understand why I spend a lot of time to make sure that the goals are realistic within the time frame available.

Lets say you have infinite time to execute a strategy. Under those circumstances does it matter if you get lost again and again? Wandering for 40 years in search of the promise land.

But lets say now that you have a limited time frame or the opportunity may be lost. And lets say that we have decided together that you have a time frame of 5 years to achieve the stated goal measurable in milestones.

Now to achieve that goal in that time frame, do you not have to measure the gap between you and your opponent? Competitive analysis or comparative studies. Take your pick.

Since the agreed goal is now 5 years, does that not dictate the speed that you have to learn to have a fighting chance in 5 years? What percentage chance would you like to have? 50%, 70%?

And are those percentages also not affected by what is going on right in front of you. On the board. The question here is if you continue to make the right decisions would you increase your percentage chance? Before you leave this earth, before the game is over. And if you make the wrong decision, move by move, as you are overwhelmed by your fears, what happens?

I hope you can now see what a double edged sword goal setting is today. Get it right and you achieve your goal. If you are also willing to pay the realistic price that is.

Now do you also see why very very few are willing to set realistic goals? They would rather wallow in the self delusion that they have infinite time rather than strive daily to make the right decisions to get there. Yes? No?

You still have doubts about what I am saying? Lets look at our Vision 2020. What is happening there. Why all that deflection, all that raising of new invented issues that take us away from that goal? Was Vision 2020 realistic? Did we measure the gap and then set our measurable milestones to achieve it? Are we willing to pay the price of success?

Do we believe in ourselves?

Chess is but a tool to learning. It doesn't have all the answers but it is a good start to learning how to think. But only if used properly.

Note: What do you learn when you fix the games? What would that tell you about the state of our chess today? Why has that happened?

Has the model above shown us where we may be going wrong? So what is the goal? And what do we have to factor in to achieve results. Do you have a goal? Do you have infinite time?

Saturday, June 7, 2014

Sometimes you have to fight for what is right in defense of the people you care about or under your protection. But most times it is better not to bother with them and place your support on those that are doing the right thing instead.

By placing our support on Associations and organizers that are for clean competition, selection etc I think we will get much further in changing Malaysian chess for the better.

So this was my experience when we played in Johor in December last year. The organizers took great pains to ensure that the competition was fair and clean. I truly appreciated that.

They are doing an International Competition for the first time this year. So I will do my best to support them. Please check out the post above k. And if you can do sign up and support the event.

If we all do this, then eventually the Associations and organizers will get the correct message of what we want from them.

Saturday, May 31, 2014

I wonder if the people taking part in this discussion really know what Jimmy is up to? Study his standard modus operandi and you won't be so easily fooled in the future.

Let me give you a clue here. Why do you think there are so many theories surrounding the missing MAS 370? Spin enough stories and some people will get confused. Spin more and people will just give up trying to understand.

So allow me to add my 2cents to try to make some sense out of this.

The most transparent reason why Jimmy is crying wolf is to deflect from the bypass of Nicholas Chan by Yeoh Li Tian. Some people say that Li Tian is strong. But look at his history from 2010. He has never won a selection but he has represented Malaysia on the senior team. Look at his games. He cannot even win against even the 1900's. The fact is that he would not have qualified any other way. He doesn't have what it takes. He has many drawing weapons that he is only now trying to move away from. Right now he can only win in select tournaments after he has been specially prepared by his backers inside/outside MCF with the latest games by his opponents from NC. Those will not be the conditions he will have at Tromso.

So it is really Li Tian who has taken away many opportunities from the other strong players via the back door in order to develop himself.

Isn't that the fact but look at what you are arguing about?

This is why I think MCF has reversed the decision on the Masters.

I suspect that they are under legal advice not to address the complain of search engine usage during National Close. Why? For if they do then the affected players will have legal claim to ask for redress. And this includes Mark. So find out more about that accusation if you really want to understand the decision.

That is why a clean selection is important. Now MCF is twisting and turning to justify what to me is the best outcome barring a clean decision on NC itself.

It's that simple. This is what Jimmy does. Don't you know this by now? How much evidence do you need before you can see that he is a fraud? Him and his accomplices.

You think he is fighting for you. But really he is putting the spot light on you so that the person he is really helping gets clean away. He knows that MCF won't reverse that decision so it is only you who will be damaged further from this. I tried to warn you in 2010 but you didn't listen.

Look and see what he has done to you. Look and see what you have become. And you still think you are so smart?

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

It does look like there may be a glimmer of hope that there are still a few decent people left in MCF with the Fadzil Nayan decision. So I write this for their benefit. My point has always been that we must take action before the nasi jadi bubur. So learn from the history and learn to recognize those that pretend to be angels but are actually the devil incarnate.

So a very short synopsis here. This may be new to those who just joined the chess circuit but these are the historical facts.

In 2009, when I was elected into the Perak Chess Association, I made the bold move to bring in written selection criteria. At that time MCF itself had no written selection and Greg was the new Secretary after Hamid.

But let me give more details surrounding the Perak Chess Association AGM for the first time today before I continue this story. During that time Dr Yee was the President and he was very unpopular since all players were hand picked by him. Allow me to recount our experience. Mark was the newly minted U12 State Champion and there was a "selection" for the Perak Junior Team. We were invited by the Vice President to attend but when we arrived Mark was chased out of the tournament hall by Dr Yee and friends. So that was how it was.

I had a lot of support from the members so what Dr Yee as the President then did was to hold the AGM on the same day that the Perak Team was leaving for MSSM and so many of my supporters who were teachers could not come to the AGM as they had to accompany the students. The other thing Dr Yee did was to accost all the members with voting rights as they came in the door. I could even see him pulling people and shouting at them. And that was the condition at that time.

But when it came to the vote I only lost by one vote to be the new President. And that was also because Dr Yee did not stand but put Chan up instead to stand against me. And Chan was seen as a sort of neutral person at that time.

Now to the point. The election brought in a new team from my camp as well as members of the old team. Mixture of new and old. Encik Kamaruddin, the Secretary of Perak Chess Association now and also the current Chairman of the Selection Committee MCF came in under my ticket. He was an unknown then.

The ticket that I stood on was to bring in change and one of the changes was a fair selection criteria for all. During the AGM, I was offered the VP post which I declined. And that was taken up by Encik Kumar, also from my ticket and also an unknown then. I only wanted to remain an ordinary committee member but in charge of selection.

One other thing. When we got as many seats as we did from the AGM, my team was jubilant. But I cautioned them that it is not over. We came in on a ticket and we must fulfill our promise at the AGM. But they wanted to kiss and make up with Dr Yee. So when I pushed for the selection criteria there was a lot of resistance from Dr Yee and he brought in Eddy Fong for a spell to try to sabotage that effort. One day Kamaruddin and Kumar invited me to their office where they confronted me. They asked me why I was in the Committee and I answered that it was to ensure fair play in selection and for the good of chess. And they both told me that they were there for business reasons.

Shortly after I was sacked without grounds.

What I am trying to say here is that the introduction of proper selection will not be easy. The culture of the back doors are very very well established and these people will do anything to preserve that power to do so.

Now lets carry on with the story. I told all this to the new MCF Secretary, Greg when we met. And I explained why written selection is important to the growth of chess in Malaysia. I related where the pitfalls were and the type of resistance he will meet hoping he can learn from my mistakes. And shortly after Greg introduced the first ever written criteria for NAG. And the rest came after. For Juniors and then the Seniors. So that is the perspective from historical facts.

Monday, May 26, 2014

This Friday my son Mark will leave the house and go to University in KL. This will also mark a big change in my life. For over 10 years I have traveled with him to each and every chess tournament as his Coach. I have seen him grow from the Perak U12 State Champion to the No.2 U20 National Junior to No.8 at our National Closed this year. And I have traveled overseas with him to represent Malaysia and for his training camps. And all of this was paid through my own pocket.

But much more than that, I have stood by his side when he was attacked by people in the chess fraternity who felt that winning can only come if you belong to the right camp. That playing strong chess and winning on the table in healthy competition is to be frowned upon.

And so I had to watch him struggle when he saw less talented players win by cheating and fixing the tournaments with the aid of chess officials. I saw him stumble once when he too accepted a point in 2010 that he did not deserve.

In all those years, I showed him time and time again that when you cheat your game stalls. So many of the top players that went down that road disappeared from the chess circuit. And so we played on knowing that they will cheat and use all sorts of devices to win. This year there is strong suspicion that they have even brought in chess engines to analyse. And that is an even more drastic form of cheating.

Over the years we have seen officials come and go. Before they come in they are full of fire to change things. After they are in they join the system. And so there has been no change apart from even further deterioration.

And so my son has been witness to all those shady people who come in the guise of angels. But now he knows who they are. And he also knows he does not need to cheat and deprive anyone of what is rightfully theirs simply by raising his own game.

To be happy with his results by being clean and to allow them to cheat if they must. We got what we got without cheating and we are content with the results.

I think he has benefited more from this experience. I think all of this experience has helped mold him into a man worthy of respect. I started out defending a frightened boy of 12 being bullied by adults of suspect character.

But I think this Friday, I will be watching a man of character and substance leave the house to face a whole new world. I wish him luck.

Sunday, May 25, 2014

I read on Facebook that Fadzil has made the Team. If that is true then I would like to congratulate him. This is important for Malaysian chess. Why? Because Fadzil fought his way into the Team without outside support. Purely on merit. And this is deserving of the highest respect. His victory is a victory for chess.

There are still other issues that MCF has not tackled and I hope that it will be looked into as well.

1. Why was Nicholas Chan bypassed and Li Tian put in?

2. There was also the issue of chess engine usage during National Close. Will this be investigated to prevent future abuse of selection?

3. What about tag team playing where players pass each other points? Is there a way to stop this?

4. Will the people responsible for the abuse be held accountable? Players and Officials.

If those things are looked into as well, then Malaysian chess will soar and we will hammer the rest of Asean. For we have the talent and we have the resources.

But first we must deal with the people who do not dare to compete and rely on the back doors. For in reality they are not real chess players and we will lose nothing by losing them.

ps: If you want to read more about this from the king of fixing himself then go here for his twisting and turning.

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

There is no need to pusing pusing. The simple reality is that those Countries care about their players. They have clean and tough selection. And they have no back door boys. All have to fight. And they don't bypass their strong players, don't attack or ban them without rhyme or reason.

And they don't have delusional and psychotic trainers/organisers. It's that simple. So there is no need to keep inventing stories. Just answer what happened at National Close and the selection during the Masters. That's all.

And then get those people who were responsible for the fiasco to resign. And we will catch up with the rest of Asean and hammer them to the ground. We have the talent and the resources. Unfortunately we also have MCF, Jimmy Liew, Peter Long and Eddy Fong.

Saturday, May 10, 2014

There are some accusations about the women's event. As I said I don't know. The women's side so far as I know, has been clean. But maybe it has changed. It is not that difficult to change it for the worse if there is "unofficial" "official" pressure.

One thing categorizes our top chess players. They are passionate about getting into the team. So if they are encouraged to fight then they will fight. If they are told that if they beat someone that will be frowned upon then they will comply. The officials know this.

Just like when they get the "unofficial" "official" nod to use chess engines, they will do it. They know they won't be caught.

So it is things like this that finally kills our chess. The players will fight when they know that MCF want fighters. And become cronies when MCF wants cronies.

That is all. It's in the culture. And our culture is that those officials went into MCF for the love of power. Not chess. And to demonstrate that power which gives them their reason for existence they need the players to kow tow. Otherwise how do they justify to themselves why they seek those seats.

So if they want to destroy Malaysian chess, there is nothing we can do unless you elect in a good team of people who genuinely want Malaysian chess to grow. There is no other way.

You can see how sick those people are, can't you? They can make black into white and lie through their teeth with no remorse. Look at Peter's post. Here. He can use the term the pot calling the kettle black. So what is his pusing? The pot that calls the kettle black saying that the pot is calling the kettle black? So let's not waste our breath anymore with these gangsters and liars.

If you can, work at the State Association level. Get a good team going. And when the time comes, kick the lot of them out. You know who these people are. That is the only hope for Malaysian chess. More than 30 years have shown us that nothing short of that will work.

But are you prepared to volunteer yourself to serve? To accept that serving in MCF is a burden which comes with responsibility and accountability. That those positions are not meant for you to gather personal power but to build Malaysian chess. That is the question.

Friday, May 9, 2014

You will find that Jimmy and friends talk about meritocracy but I don't think they really know what they are talking about. So let me again use an example I have used before.

During the last National Close, I met up with some very old friends and found a new one. This guy related to me his experience in an American multinational company. When he made his first claim for expenses the CEO's secretary returned his claim to him. He was told that he must claim all that he was entitled to and in fact he under claimed. So he was asked to read up and claim everything he can claim and not a cent more or a cent less.

You see the company philosophy is this. Everyone within the company as well as their clients were partners in their progress and growth. And so nobody is to be shortchanged. For if that happens, resentment builds and the partnership ends eventually.

So that is entitlement.

Note: You are rewarded as an entitlement for result produced. There is no need to beg for your dues.

How does that relate to our chess? Look at the way our players are treated. If you do not play ball with the match fixers and give points when they ask, you lose your entitlement. You will not be given the incentives promised. You will be banned where they can ban you. They will fix the pairing against you. Even when you win in selection they will find a way to give it to someone else.

Ergo, what they want is control of the players. The yes men. If you are not they will try to break you till you become a yes man. And if you protest they will set Jimmy, Peter and Eddy on you.

Question. What kind of players are we producing? How are they being molded? What is the message to them?

Is it not the message that there is no way forward if you train and compete to win your place based purely on your chess? If you even attempt that we will send those gangland bosses to fix you.

And if you agree with them they have broken you psychologically. You cannot claim your place as a matter of entitlement, as a result of your chess skills alone. You must also crawl under their feet first. You cannot train or they will hammer you all across cyber space and/or not take action against those that cheat when playing with you.

Will those that crawl ever become world beaters I ask you? That is the simple reason why I am not too gung ho about our senior men's squad. The whole selection is a farce and they are laughing in the players face. It is very transparent. You have seen the pusing pusing. And sadly those players who were bypassed are not fighting back and demanding their entitlement. They know it's not a partnership. It's about bowing to the towkays.

Well, I will not bow. My son will not bow. My integrity and dignity cannot be bought or sold. So you can allow all the chess engines in tournaments you want. You can do all the fixing you want.

When we come we will still play clean chess in healthy competition. To me that is already a victory.

And until MCF values players like us who only claim what we are entitled, nothing more and nothing less without participating in any back door arrangements, I am not optimistic about our chances as a chess nation. But lets give MCF another 30 years to figure this out.

Thursday, May 8, 2014

I was asked by an anonymous commentator about my views on the Women's Masters. Sorry I did not follow that event as I was travelling. However I did see on FB, Peter telling Li Ting that he would have to help her improve her English next. As usual Peter is very fond of coming in at the last moment to "teach" the front runners just before the competition or claim them as his student after they have become Champion.

As far as I know anyone who gets too close to him ends up damaged.

Li Ting was Champion before Peter and my best advice to her is that if she wants to continue being a Champion, is to go to someone who is a fighter. Who is not afraid of competition and does not rely on banning and other back door ways.

The most important thing is the preservation of your fighting spirit. The knowledge can come faster or slower depending on who you choose as a trainer and how much effort you can put into your chess. But once the fighting spirit is taken out of you, you are lost. And the best way to get lost is to accept their facilitation for the back doors.

Look towards the men for the examples. How they can bypass our strong players without strong protest from them. Why is that? How would a fighter respond to being cheated? Look carefully and you will know that is not the way. There are no shortcuts to being chess Champions. And those who take the shortcuts will crash in the International arena.

It is very very very obvious if you but stop and think. They cannot even do that so what can they do to help you?

Friday, May 2, 2014

Observe how Jimmy tries to blur his involvement from all the match fixing from the previous Olympiads and recent activities affecting the outcome of a team based on chess skills and merit by throwing all the blame on Kamaruddin, Yeap and Greg. And some mud should stick to all who know these 3 people.

A side note: Remember I once asked if there is any honour among thieves? Well this is the answer. Do you remember the times when Jimmy got in without any selection at all? Who helped him?

I do see some merit in both sets of arguments of using top 5 as per original criteria and strengthening the team. So I maintain that the best outcome is top 4 and then Yee Weng. That will be the best possible team although not strictly legally correct.

However I wonder how they can pusing until they add back Jimmy as a possible reserve. But like I said they are the experts in this. Clearly those anonymous people are from MCF or very closely linked.

Also they seem to have omitted the fact that Nicholas was not called to play as per the criteria. So Li Tian already knew that they will not call Nicholas when he went to Vietnam during National Close. The fact is Li Tian has never won any selection from the National Juniors when he tried in 2010 or any other National Close when he tried to qualify. Not even once has he qualified.

The fact is Li Tian cannot play strong chess in Open tournaments like the Juniors, National Close or indeed the Olympiads. He can only play in Closed tournaments where he is given the games of his opponents and then specially prepared.

And Yit San is not strong without his tag team and special pairing arrangements. Ref: Here.

I think one day we will see a totally fair selection where opportunities are given based on merit. Where the officials are not biased and will discipline players who tag teams and players who cheat using chess engines without fear or favour. Where there is no fixing of the pairings.

That will be the tournament to watch don't you think so? Now with all these cheating, back doors and pusing pusing we can't tell who can play or who can match fix. But real chess players will still turn up and play blind folded and one hand tied behind their backs because they know these weaklings won't last. At most all they will reach is Jimmy's standard which is no standard at all.

All they have to do is not be broken by all that psycho attacks. Is that right Jimmy?

ps: If my statement of facts can undermine their confidence then they should not be sent out to fight real chess players from a much tougher merit based environment. Merit based because then they really know they are good and not from the back door. If that is the case nobody can shake their self confidence. For they then know them to be lies. That is the poison the back door boys have ingested. They know they are not good and that they need to cheat to win. It is that simple.

Only cheaters are fearful of the light from the truth. Follow the Olympiads as well if you still need more evidence. Then hold the match fixers accountable. The problem always has been that they get away scott free each and every time. That is why they are so bold to cheat in broad daylight.

Thursday, May 1, 2014

This is the main reason why I say don't take the short cuts. Don't play tag team and don't accept points you haven't earned just to get a title. This title now becomes the poison because it was not earned honestly. The person who gave you the poison has now taken a lot of your energy from you. He is smiling inside because he knows what that poison will do to you in time.

Do witness how another generation of players are being wiped out in front of our eyes. Now do you see why I say that man and his cronies is dangerous to Malaysian chess? Who is left from that generation of National players who are just passed the Junior stage? Can you name the players? Can you remember what he has done over the last few years? Do you understand his methods now?

The only way to improve is by focusing on raising our standards.

Unfortunately that man and his cronies only know how to match fix and sabotage. But only here in Malaysia where he has his supporters to help him. When he goes overseas he is just a broken down kup chai with an old M license plate.

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

The exclusion of Nicholas was already a foregone conclusion. This has happened in the last Olympiad as well and have been reported here. So this should come as no surprise to Jimmy.

Jimmy, the fact is you have had a hand in all of these manipulations. So don't even try to wash your hands of this and shift the blame. I hope Nicholas makes a report. There is COS as well. My point is that without a protest from the affected players themselves then this will continue.

And in a full investigation I am very confident that Jimmy will be identified as a co-conspirator in the attempt to fix the Malaysian team. I would love to be a witness and help to direct to where the evidence can be gotten to put these guys away for good.

Additional note: The number of players that would attend the Masters was already known during National Close itself. Go back to my posts just after National Close. So Jimmy is talking rubbish and trying to cover his tracks. Check the timeline of events.

As I said twisting and turning. One official announcement and then a quiet one by Haslinda and then another quiet one by Tse Pin. Was that deliberate? You decide.

The Olympiad is the biggest event on the Malaysian chess calender. All events lead to that. So we can have clarity for all the events leading to but not for the big one?

Of course we know that Jimmy is not official but has not evidence shown that he has access to information and games from the officials? Did he not put up many of Mark's games to try to put him down in public? How did he get those games if he is not in collusion with some people in MCF?

So he must think we are all stupid.

And what kind of argument is this? Principled in one decision, unprincipled in the next and then principled again. In Malay they call this pusing pusing or main main until they get the players they want.

And then an anonymous comment asking for Mas to play to make up the racial composition.

Why should anybody accept your so called charity when they have won by right? Fadzil won. Why invite Mas? Do you think all chess players are beggars like you?

We win, we play. We meet the criteria set by the Association for incentives, we get the incentives. Real chess players do not beg. Just because you have lost your dignity years ago Jimmy, do not think for one moment that all of us are like you.So you can simpan.

Monday, April 28, 2014

From my observations and conversations over the last 10 years this is my conclusion of how to strike the deal to play chess for Malaysia. So do take note if you want to be a crony.

You have to agree to pass the point when it is your turn. So for instance, I will pass you a point to make you NM and you pass me a point to make me look good so I can pitch to be the Coach for the National Team. This way we all look good.

If you agree, then we will do this for you. We will knock out all the real chess players in your way for you. We will fix their pairings, we will make sure that the selection criteria is ambiguous and so if you don't make it we will twist it in such a way that you will still slip in. We will attack them and intimidate them for you. Not to worry, we have had many many years to perfect our art. We know what we are doing and we are very creative at our job.

So that is the deal if you want to make the senior squad. Now you know and so you can decide if that is the way for you. Or not.

A cautionary note. There are only so many places on the senior squad and there are many who thought they had a deal and have played ball but didn't get in. Whether you get the real deal or not depends on how much they need you and how low you can get to carry their balls.

At least you can now make informed choices right?

But there is a flip side and a price. Those people didn't struggle to get their places. They didn't work out why they cannot win without the fixing. If you look closely they have traded away the very thing that they need to do well on the International circuit in search for the shortcut into the National Team. They traded away their courage and fighting spirit. They traded away their dignity and self confidence.

I don't know about you but that is too heavy a price to pay for me and mine. I refuse to trade away something that will help me for the rest of my life for that short term gain.

There is no place for you if you want to progress based on your chess skills alone. You need the deal.

So strip away your illusions and stop looking at all the chess greats from around the world and those that visit us in our Country. We have long given up on the dream of a strong Malaysian player who can stand tall in the International circuit. We have given up the dream based on our actions although in words we still say we want a GM etc.

I promise you that there will be less heartache that way. Those deal makers are not real chess players. They come from a cartoon show. Don't pin your hopes on them. They have nothing over their International competitors. They have already been broken at home.

ps: If you still want the deal, write in to me and I will give you the names of the deal makers. There are a few of them so I hope you are prepared to carry many balls. Pardon my french.

Sunday, April 27, 2014

Earlier this year as we were playing at a tournament in Perak to prepare for this year's National Close, Fadzil spoke to Mark and explained how the scholarship system works. Without that understanding it would have been hard for me to explain to the University authorities and get a scholarship for Mark.

Basically he told us that the Higher Education Ministry awards a stipend based on results from SUKIPT as well the Olympiads. Fadzil won the gold for SUKIPT and he was gunning for the higher stipend for representing Malaysia from the Olympiads.

So what are your thoughts on this matter? Did Fadzil deserve a fair shake? They already have our games. And still they cannot win without "extra help"?.

Does the selection committee care about the players hopes and dreams? About all the hard work that went into the game or do they have a separate agenda besides wanting what is best for Malaysia?

This morning somebody PMed me and said to lodge a police report with him. But I said no simply because it would be hard to explain how the fixing is done. Many tournament players themselves don't really understand how they can be cheated right in front of their eyes.

Furthermore, there is also this question. Lets use an analogy here. Say my neighbour's house was robbed. Is it the responsibility of my neighbour or me to lodge the police report? I can give a witness account if I saw anything but my neighbour should report the robbery yes?

And was this not daylight robbery?

I stand here today to say that I will act as a witness if asked but Fadzil must report the crime himself.

And I hope he does. These people have taken too many liberties from us in the past. Right now I can honestly say I wouldn't mind seeing some of them in prison. Enough is enough. This must stop for the sake of all our future players. For the sake of Malaysian chess. For the sake of Malaysia.

This is my view. The fixing has just gotten more sophisticated. In the past it was just pure intimidation by Jimmy and friends with the collusion of certain MCF officials.

So historically, they attack any training for the Juniors. They will attack the Juniors directly too as was seen with Sumant and Zhuo Ren when they trained for SEA games 2010. At the State level they manipulate the pairings to enable points to be passed as tag team players in individual events. They also do things like not give any incentive to Mark like they do all the players who have achieved the criteria set by the State Association in National tournaments. So in the past it was intimidation or non recognition to try to demotivate you.

But from this National Close, they now seem to close a blind eye to cheating when it is done to certain players. And then they change the criteria again till they get the players they want. And this is very very very unfair and will come to a no good end.

Let me explain further. The Olympiads is an Open team tournament. That means it is not a closed tournament like the Malaysian Masters where you can do special preparation. What does this mean? This means it is very difficult to prepare for your opponents at the Olympiads and so the first masters tournament is the best selection criteria as it simulates actual conditions at the Olympiads. But they now have 2 attempts to get Fadzil's games to knock him out (From NC and then from the first Masters tournament). Yit San will not have this condition at the Olympiads. He cannot lose there and then ask for a replay till he wins.

He did not make the cut and so he should not have a second chance with additional help. (I strongly believe that his weakness of being unable to win in open tournaments without all the "extra help" will show up at the Olympiads).

I maintain that the team should be the top 4 (including Fadzil) and Yee Weng. That would be our best team. Anything else is manipulation pure and simple.

I hope you can see from this why we need to get Jimmy, Peter and Eddy out of the system as well as the MCF officials backing their agenda to put in players that they want and not the players that are the most deserving from Malaysia.

How much damage have these people done to Malaysian chess over these past few years that we have been following together. I hope you can see clearly now that these people are the main reason why Malaysian chess is at the level it is.

They do not recognise hard work, training and chess skills. All they know is how to put in the people they want by changing the goal post and fixing. And this is bad. Very bad.

Special note: There is also an information disparity. Only the cronies have access to all the players games. Both Fadzil, Mark etc etc have no access to their games whereas they can prepare for us since MCF will give the cronies our games. But still we fight with one hand tied behind our backs. And even this advantage is not enough for them it seems. And these are the players that are going to fight for Malaysian honours??!!!

Saturday, April 26, 2014

Congratulations to the winners. It does look like all the extra tournament exposure that Li Tian had gotten over the rights of others for years is finally paying off. I do hope that this will be the end of his back door days and he will strive to only claim what he is entitled to get from this point onwards.

He had a hand up. But that is water under the bridge now, I hope. Surely he won't need any further advantage and those behind him (by twisting selection criteria etc) will finally allow for a level playing field. Let him fight for his own place now. If you still keep opening doors for him without him deserving it, it will only weaken him in the end. Then he will end up like Jimmy, Peter and Eddy.

I think the results is quite representative of the players current skills.

ps: Btw, I think Fadzil has proven himself in this tournament. So he should qualify for the Olympiads too. Please understand that Fadzil did this run with no help from anyone and achieved this result based purely on his chess skills. So he is very deserving and will be an asset to the Malaysian team.

If there is to be another playoff then let it be the last 2 against Yee Weng. Clearly there is something those last 2 players have yet to understand about chess.

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

First off let me congratulate Fadzil for making the squad. To me he is one of our true fighters. He got in from the front door and truly worthy of respect.

You guys know who the back door artists are. It is very transparent. Were you able to guess that after all that twisting and turning that Li Tian would get to play? It was quite obvious yes?

While I still wish the back door boys well when they play for Malaysia, I cannot say that I believe that they will become strong and win us honours. They just haven't paid the price. As I have said before, I believe they will go the same way as Jimmy, Peter and finally Eddy in the end. They are on the same road and that road leads to kangkung land as it's final destination. We have had 30 years to see where that road leads to.

It's that simple.

Meanwhile I wish the players there a clean fight and may best the best players win.

Saturday, April 19, 2014

A few months back an MCF Official called me and asked me for my view of the current Fide contest for the Presidency. And I said this to him. The contest should be seen as the contest for the post of Secretary-General of Fide. The President is usually far removed from the day to day running.

And so I told him about my meeting with Ignatius Leong last year in Singapore when I was concerned that Peter may be trying to control certain tournaments in this region. I told Ignatius of my concerns and asked if it was possible for Fide to monitor the situation and do the necessary correction if they can get solid evidence to confirm my suspicions. I left that meeting with Ignatius believing that he would not help to facilitate an investigation.

So my opinion given to that MCF Official was that it may be an idea to support Abundo for Secretary-General. I don't really know Abundo that well but from what I can see, I think he could be a straight shooter. Anyway what have we to lose by giving him a chance?

Peter's sudden strong support of Ignatius further deepen my suspicions. After attacking Ignatius for years he suddenly does an about turn. And don't you find that the writer of that letter purportedly signed by 10 Federations suspiciously like the anonymous bloggers that appeared in Jimmy's blog once?

Therefore I find no credibility for Ignatius when he has Peter's strong support. The opposite in fact.

My point is this. If we really want to raise our standard in chess, we need to do it by raising our game. Not by trying to fix tournaments and trying to make our weak players appear strong.

Thursday, April 17, 2014

You cannot try to break the fighting spirit of the players and then expect them to be strong. You cannot allow them to progress via back doors and match fixing and then expect them to be strong. That just doesn't work.

Chess is a mental sport where you need courage to go for the win. You need an unfailingly questioning mind to find solutions. You need to develop the correct thinking methodologies and you need discipline. Then you need a strong sense self confidence that can only come from having surmounted many trials and tribulations without cheating.

I wonder why MCF cannot see this. They allow people like Jimmy, Peter and Eddy to hammer the players who refuse to take the back doors by spreading lies and slander and welcome only those that have been beaten down and broken till they too make public statement of lies.

Only when they become a clone/crony will they be allowed to play for Malaysia. Otherwise they will be fixed.

And then they need all these promotional tools to try to make those weak players seem strong.

So let me ask you a question MCF?

Isn't it better to stop the back doors and develop real players than be trapped forevermore in trying to fix tournaments to make weak players seem strong?

Doesn't that save a lot of energy in the end? All that energy that is now used to try to hoodwink people could have been channeled into developing real players.

And you know what. If you do it this way, you too, every single one of your officials can stand tall and shine and bask in the good work that you have done. The Malaysian chess community would be proud of you. I would want to have my picture taken next to you. The real sponsors will want to be associated with a winning team.

Isn't that much better than what you are doing now? Hiding and twisting in the dark. Just wondering. Why do you insist on torturing yourselves this way. Don't you have the courage to stand up to the bullies? Don't you have the self confidence to stop being a bully?

You want our players to fight in International tournaments with rules and win. But what is the example you are setting for them? How are you moulding them?

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

It is quite apparent that the methods of Jimmy, Peter and Eddy will not produce any strong players for Malaysia. Just look at them. One cannot play strong chess anymore and is full of excuses, the other is too afraid to play anymore and just throw abuses from the sideline and the last fella plays at 1300 level but talks like a loud mouthed GM.

What do they really know? How to match fix? They are fear ridden people hoping to make all our players into their image.

What has happened to our last crop of Juniors under their onslaught of intimidation etc? Can you not see the trend of them becoming just like those 3 above over time? What has the last few tournaments shown of their progress under the influence of those 3? What happened to those "strong" juniors at KL Open? Here.

Let me try to use an analogy here.

When a Country/Company is intent on progressing they want their human resources courageous, able to ask sensible questions and think. This is so that the Country/Company can compete.On the other hand, if the Country/Company is just intent on fleecing then they want their human capital frightened and afraid to ask questions. For obvious reasons.

Simple enough an analogy. Do you agree?

So which type are you MCF? Which type will produce the strong players?

I think you need to decide if you are willing to protect the few potential strong players you have left after the work of Jimmy, Peter and Eddy (with some hidden help from among MCF itself) or if you want them to complete the job of wiping out any strong players we have left.

If you do nothing, in 30 years time we will still be where we are today. Look carefully at those 3. Can you see our players future in them? Will they be able to bring their methods into the International arena? And even if Peter succeeds will we be proud of those players?

Think on this and then change yourself into an organisation that will build our players up rather than protect those that are taking us to Timbuktu for another round.

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

I only see one Malaysian playing there. And I think he is one of the the top students from our local chess university.

In the past Penang has always sent a large contingent of players. But from what I hear many Malaysians are distancing themselves from anything associated with Peter Long. I wonder if the organisers there are aware of this situation.

How can one man do so much damage? With a little help from his few cronies perhaps? Boggles my mind. I wonder what kind of person will sabotage and look down on the strongest players from his own Country?

Langkawi is our last tournament until we have settled all of Mark's University matters and we have a proper gauge of his new workload before we look at the time left over and plan for his further chess development.

But something is happening. At the opening of Langkawi, the organisers took great pains to refer to the Fide playbook and made mention of the need for all players not to bring the game of chess into disrepute.

Note: I did not have any prior conversations with the organisers on this matter so this must be a concern that they too have concluded on their own.

I was asked by a few people about Mark's withdrawal from KL Open and I told them what happened. Ref: Here.

With the unresolved controversy surrounding the National Close which was followed by KL Open many more are starting to join the dots and many questions were asked. So let me recap a little about the National Close first. Here. The glaring point there was why did the arbiters impose the condition on the player suspected of using a chess engine going to the toilet with an escort only when that player was playing an MCF official and not others. I said there were suspicion on 3 occasions that I know of. And many witnesses were present.

And so when I was asked about my opinion of KL Open. I said that it was a showcase tournament. That is the only possible reason I can see for the exclusion of many strong players in Malaysia which could tarnish the show that Peter wants to present.

Allow me to state here more directly what I see are the problems we are facing. We cannot get direct evidence for only MCF can actually get hold of that. That is quite impossible for us to get as we have seen in the past. And we cannot compel MCF to act. So all we have is circumstantial evidence. Here.

But there is a further problem I think. The law governing circumstantial evidence is civil in nature. I do not think there is a syariah equivalent. I could be wrong. And so if that is correct then I think certain people have made use of the loopholes to their advantage to divide the objections.

Example: I have repeatedly said that my reports here are eyewitness accounts of what happened to us. Similar to a witness making a police report. But that can somehow be turned into an accusation of fitnah. And so it may seem that there are no actionable grounds in syariah since we are unable to bring concrete evidence for that is protected by MCF. And so we are unable to mount a concerted objection using circumstantial evidence for the affected parties are separated by 2 sets of laws.And the authorities with the power to act will close a blind eye. Something like the police seeing a crime in progress but will do nothing until a report is written. And after the report is given then do nothing about it or use the report to hammer the person reporting the crime. Ref: Here. Quite a quandary we are in isn't it?

I am going to be very bold here. I hope you will allow me to speak my mind. I think that is how the strong muslim players get sidelined too. There is virtually no protest from them although in Langkawi many asked me questions. I hope that those questions will lead to some positive action to change things from really understanding why we are so backward as a chess community.

Look, to fix tournaments, they need the cooperation of certain players and officials. These arrangement sets up unfair conditions as only certain players/officials are in on it. And we saw a number of incidences in action at KL Open and at National Close.

Please go here to look at the Vision and Philosophy of First GM Chess Academy again. Here. We have seen many similar slogans in the past. But let me say this. I mean every word of what I have written there. And I will not compromise on those stated aims and I think that is why they attack us the way they do.

We need a system that is not only fair but also seen to be fair. Right now I don't think we have that. And that will be the seed for future problems and I think if it is not corrected then politics will enter into the realm of Malaysian chess. And there will be genuine grounds. No genuine chess player with dignity wants to be the token anything. My belief is that the vast majority of the Malaysian chess community as a whole wants a level platform. And if you win, you win. And we will celebrate genuine winners. All of us.

But no more cronyism and no more match fixing.

That is my sense of what took place in Langkawi. I hope that will be the seed to building a strong Malaysian team in the future. No more kangkung teams that cannot win without crutches.

Ask yourself this question if you are the few remaining that are still not convinced. If they cannot play and win here without unfair assistance then how can they possibly stand up tall and fight for Malaysian honour. They have no honour and integrity themselves.

My 2 cents. Chess belongs to all of us. Not just those cronies. Do not honour winning by cheating. This include back doors. That is wrong and breeds kangkung players.

Thursday, April 10, 2014

You really don't need a crystal ball to see what Jimmy and Peter are doing to our Junior players. And it is so easy to sucker desperate parents of around 1300 level or lower into falling for their traps.

I can very well see why they needed to remove Mark from the tournament even after guaranteeing him a place. Even after receiving his entrance fee and then having to return it.

You saw what happened when we got a GM to train our Juniors. You saw what happened to the junior players who trained for SEA games selection. And you saw what happened to the one junior player that succeeded in winning his place in the senior squad. The first Junior who did it via selection.

Do you really really really need more evidence before you can act on this? These 2 are the most toxic and destructive people in Malaysian chess. Anyone that goes near them is severely damaged. But lets give Eddy a special mention here too. He has been trying to do the same to Mark in Perak for years. So maybe that makes 3 toxic people in total. Hmmmmm, maybe more.

It has been a long journey starting from 2005 when Mark was U12 Champion of Perak to National Junior no.3 in Dec. 2013 and National no.8 in the recent National Close and now we need to take a short break.

I started out wanting to use chess to teach Mark about all these things. Here. But I think we ended up with even more valuable lessons. After Langkawi, Mark will begin his new life in University and then after that he will go out into the wide world as he starts his working/business life.

But he will now start his working life knowing what this world is really about. He will have fewer illusions. He has seen and dealt with the type of people he will meet again later in life. People who will try to steal his hopes and dreams, people who will try to deny him the fruits of his own labour. People who will try to tempt him with the shortcuts so he will lose his way.

However I think he has developed a much stronger character now so that it won't be so easy for them to do that.

More importantly I see that Mark has not grown bitter from his experiences with all those people. He has come to understand that it is they who are suffering. Nothing beats a clear conscience in life. Do no evil to others even if they do evil to you. Otherwise you end up just like them.

Stay true to yourself. Continue to believe in yourself. Do everything you set out to do with courage and fortitude and you will eventually meet success.

Those were the lessons I wanted for Mark. The real lessons. The rest, his success at Junior level chess were actually all secondary. Further down the road, it won't matter. Just like SPM is now over, STPM is now over. It is just a memory and wont amount to much in the larger struggle of life.

But what he has learnt from chess will help to carry him in any endeavour he chooses from this point onwards.

I don't think Mark will quit chess and we are merely marking a new phase in his life and we will need at least a month to prepare all the stuff he will need for his further studies.

We owe much to chess. It has taught us many valuable lessons in life. I believe we have fought the good fight. I only wish I could have helped more during my time in chess. But that was not meant to be. Too many frightened, fear ridden people in a kangkung culture.

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

This is pure speculation on my part as I cannot read their minds so I will present the facts and you can judge for yourself. From very early on I was assured that Mark would be able to play at KL Open. And I suppose they thought I should be happy with that outcome.

But I wrote back. I said I did not want special favours to enter KL Open. Put up the criteria and we will apply just like any other qualified player in Malaysia. And that begun a flurry of email exchanges etc. I have never accepted the back door in my life and this will not be the first time.

And so finally the money was returned to us at National Close. I think that was a good thing. Better not to play one tournament than to be turned into a kangkung is my view.

I was just down in KL for a few days to talk to a few old friends and also to meet new ones. One of the friends were from my kindergarten days, one from my primary school days and so we had a lot to talk about. I also met a musician who has just taken up chess because she wants to learn how to think ahead.

But I am going to talk about one conversation in particular from my last trip to KL today. This person said, "Raymond, these people have been around from the beginning of history. Those that want it all without having to pay the price. Those that will attack our young. Those that will use their position and authority to suppress and destroy. Those who will never build anything in their empty lives.

They are simply there so that we can be strong. They are there so we can find the courage to stand up for what is rightfully ours. And they will always have their supporters who want the shortcuts too. We cannot stop them from their right to existence."

Point taken.

And so you will see that I have never asked for them to be banned. They are there to tell us what does not work. So let them continue for the next 30 years to see for themselves that Jimmy, Peter and Eddy will never take them anywhere good. That is their right and that is their tournament. They have made their choice.

What I am saying is that there is also the need of a space for players in Malaysian chess who want to do it the right way. Without cheating, without match fixing. There need to be a place for chess players who want to win purely on their chess skills alone. Who want to learn from the rich lessons of chess. Those that believe in training and competing hard in healthy competition.

I was wondering what would be the outcome of the Jimmy versus Yit Ho game last round. So Jimmy won. But let us ask a question at this point. Do you remember the last Malaysian Masters? Jimmy lost to every single Junior who was there and came out dead last. Now he is leading the field. Is something wrong with the picture?

Let us consider this. I have presented this case many times before but I hope this time more people will be able to see my reasoning. The Juniors should be improving at a much faster rate. Last year every single one of them without exception wacked the daylights out of Jimmy. And today they flounder and seem lost.

WHY?

I have postulated that the only thing that can hinder our Juniors is the injection of fear. And fear is easily injected by someone you trust. Does that make sense? Fear cannot easily enter if you don't allow it to enter. But when you trust somebody who does not deserve your trust you allow them in. You allow the poison in. You allow the free points thinking it is a gift. You allow the match fixing thinking they are helping you. And the poison gets in.

And that crop of Juniors is then wiped out.

Are you seeing the picture now? Do you now understand why we would never deal with them? It is poison pure and simple. They do not have your interest at heart. They do not care about Malaysian chess. They are the poison we need to remove before Malaysian chess can take it's rightful place on the world stage.

And how they laugh and make fun of our players when they do succeed in implanting the fears. So how long more are you going to just sit there and allow them to continue this nonsense?

Do you trust your own judgement? Do you believe the evidence presented in front of your eyes? If you don't, if you lack the courage to see clearly, then chess is not serving you well. For chess is about courage, the ability to evaluate without fear or favour. And that is followed by the ability to respond with your move.

Where were our first clues that there is a program to make our players into kangkungs?

Do you remember when First GM organised the first training by a GM for our players going to Asean? Do you remember what happened? Did Jimmy not launch an attack of the training via his blog by the use of multiple anonymous sites? What could be his motive for not wanting our players to train under a GM before they go out to represent the Country? Would he have been able to teach our players better? Did he even want to help the players at all?

Or was it his agenda to stop anyone else from progressing that was not part of his crony group?

And the next clue? What happened when Zhuo Ren and Sumant trained at my house to prepare for the first SEA games that was open to selection? Were they not attacked until they made public apologies via the blogs? Did you not see the statements on his blog that told the Juniors to wait their turn or make enemies?

What was so wrong about training for a selection that invites this type of attacks? That invites bannings. Is it for the good of Malaysian chess or was it to promote one player at that time. If that player, Yeoh Li Tian is that good then he would have blown all opposition apart wouldn't he? Or can he be good only if nobody dares to train and compete with him or be attacked?

But where is Li Tian now? Look carefully at his run at KL Open. But more seriously what has happened to all the players that tried to train and compete?

Why aren't they mounting a fight at KL Open?

So really, who are those players at the KL Open? Are they our strongest players or are they the back door boys who can only progress after Jimmy, Peter and Eddy have knocked out all their competition?

We need to be clear on this for the sake of Malaysian chess.

And MCF, how much more evidence do you need before you try to help the players who dare to train and dare to compete?

Note: I submit that Malaysia will never produce strong players under the culture promoted by Jimmy, Peter and Eddy. And they may even have helpers within MCF.

And then you will continue to see Peter laughing at our players. Why? Because he has managed to destroy them. Don't let this happen to Malaysian chess.Our current options are to join them and become kangkungs who cannot compete without the fixers or not join them and be attacked and banned. Those options are not good enough for our players. We need to be able to train and to compete without interference from those people before we can get our First GM.

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

I have written a lot about this. Go back to my many evaluations of Li Tian. Scared chess. Chess to just gain ratings. Jimmy Liew's brand of chess.

When you play to win, you can also lose. But that is the proper path to take if you finally want to break the kangkung level ceiling. They are drawing from the 1500 level onwards.

I am only speculating here since KL Open won't put up the games but I think that the rare wins against higher level players only happen when those players underestimate our players and try a high risk maneuver to break the draws.

What is the cost of winning on borrowed points? What is the cost of match fixing? What is the cost of attacking and sabotaging our strong players in order to promote cronies? They were strong players once yes?

But tournament by tournament they are becoming more and more like the past crop of kangkungs. So who is responsible for bringing Malaysian chess to this type of low.

This culture needs to be changed or there is no use crying for a GM. And the people who promote this type of culture needs to be stopped. And MCF has that power and authority. But what are they doing instead? Is somebody in MCF actually helping to foster this kangkung culture? We need answers and then we need action for change.

Or we will still be crying for a GM for the next 30 years.

Question. Why did they return the money to us for Mark to play at KL Open? Isn't that the perfect place for them to show that I am talking nonsense?
This is what you are supposed to learn from chess. Here. Can you tell me what is so frightening about what I wrote in 2009?

Friday, April 4, 2014

Peter is the deal maker and he controls the tournament by limiting entries to only those that play ball or are not a threat to the show he wants to put on. (Do you remember some of the suspect tournaments he has held before?)

So what could possibly be Jimmy's role? Afterall he only plays around 2000 level. Maybe he is the point carrier. He could be able to offload a point or even two if he doesn't get knocked out too early. Has he ever played this role before? Check out the past Malaysian Opens as well as past National Close.

And Eddy? He has a horse in the race. Not a very strong one relative to the field but a horse nevertheless.

So is there a problem with this picture and with this collusion?

This is what I am also wondering. What about Li Tian? I think it will be quite a complicated affair to manage. I think it will depend on the strength of their teamwork and depth of mutual understanding. And so we will also see something about the age old adage of if there is any honour among thieves, I suppose.

But really, who are the beneficiaries? Would it be Malaysia or for a "chess university"?

Lets not speculate anymore since the hunger games is about to begin and we can see for ourselves. Do follow all the action. Here.

Thursday, April 3, 2014

The playbook of Jimmy, Peter and Eddy are just too shortsighted. The name of the game is to raise your game. Not to sabotage all the strong players in Malaysia just so you can promote only your own crony players. For if they accept the shortcuts, they will be of no use in a tough competitive environment overseas for they will have no practice in overcoming their fears by competing here and raising their game first.

This way they will continue to come back from representing Malaysia with a whole bag of their usual excuses as we have seen from the last 2 Olympiads. Then they will only dare to play in tournaments outside of public viewing. Didn't we see that this was what happened to our last crop of senior players?

And then they end up delusional and start dreaming that they are Ferrari's. Then they start to write anonymous notes to themselves telling themselves how great they are. Or they stop playing and just abuse others. Or they become 1300 loud mouth and practised liar. Go and see Eddy's performance at Penang Open last year. Here.

That is what happens when you become scared of competition and only know ways to match fix using our Associations etc.

Is that what we really want MCF? Or do we want players that can hold their heads up high and fight for our honour and Country by playing strong and clean chess by the rules?

We need to make this decision before we can move Malaysian chess forward. Or we will just be doing the same thing we have been doing for the last 30 years and expecting different results.

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

There seems to be a good mix of players which perhaps represent the strongest players we have in Malaysia.

But I think MCF needs to be wary of one thing. It is not merely talent that we need. We need talent AND a strong fighting spirit.

So our NC was a problem that we should have looked into. Ref: Here. If there were strong suspicions of match fixing and we don't do anything about it, then we are only going to raise another crop of kangkung players over time.

I think we will soon have another opportunity to see how this works in the coming KL Open. There is a reason for the strong collusion between Jimmy, Peter and Eddy. And they will all be represented there.

I have experienced and seen with my own eyes what happens when they attack and break our Juniors to make them into mirrors of themselves. They don't want strong chess players. They want players they can control. And that is the problem.

Because those players are going to end up playing for Malaysia. We can all sit here and just watch and slowly wait till the poison finally works itself in and they all become so scared that there will be no difference between them and Jimmy, Peter or Eddy. Ref: Here. One is a 2000 IM, the other too afraid to play and the last one a 1300 loud/foul mouth.

These people will never produce strong players. Peter can try all he wants to control the tournaments in the region but we will never have a player we can be proud of this way.

So my point is this. We have both types now on the National squad. Those that have been broken by Jimmy, Peter and Eddy in concert and those that have not been broken and may become somebody worthwhile one day.

What MCF needs to be very aware of is how to protect those that will not agree to match fixing and willing to rise or fall purely on their chess skills alone. For it is those players that will eventually make us proud. If MCF is not careful the kangkung culture can infect the new crop of Malaysian players that are so far untainted or relatively untainted.

Friday, March 28, 2014

I think Jimmy, Peter and Eddy are developing their own play book. They each have specific skills to compliment each other. That to me is to be commended. At least they are showing that they can do something in Malaysia to win in chess.

However I do wonder if that play book will work on the International stage? Perhaps when they manage to change the whole world, you think?

Thursday, March 27, 2014

When you need to use lies and slander. When you need distraction and deflection. When you need intimidation and bannings. When you need to call yourself a "Ferrari" and then cheat and fix matches; then you cannot possibly be strong. For these are exhibitions of self delusion. For this tells me that you have something to hide and you are deeply insecure.

All these things come from fear. And if you are fearful of me that must also mean we are very close and snipping at your heels.

And so I am further encouraged and further charged to beat you on the table in healthy competition. We do not need those tools or crutches simply because I cannot see any reason why we should be fearful of anyone so afraid of us.

And chess is about finding the truth on the table. So it is only a question of time when we will find yours.

Monday, March 24, 2014

Psychology Today."Those who would eschew morality in favor of victory should consider something else that Vince Lombardi said near the end of his life about the "winning isn't everything, it's the only thing" quote: "I wished I'd never said the thing...I meant the effort. I meant having a goal. I sure didn't mean for people to crush human values and morality."Read this. Here.

What do we lose when we use lies and slander? What do we lose when we cheat and fix matches? What do we lose when we ban players we feel are threats? What kind of players will we produce from this system? Can they really be strong that way? Can they be strong when they fear to compete without their crutches? What is the International platforms like, outside our bubble?

If you have the time do read all the other recent posts from them. It is quite revealing.

Now let us recap a little before I reveal a little more. All I said was that if there are suspicions that there was cheating at the National Close then it is an idea to have that playoff at the Masters. Here. Particularly since it is in danger of being cancelled because of insufficient players. That was all.

But the response was the above. All those accusations from Jimmy, Peter and Eddy Fong are not new. The funny thing is that they don't realise that the players talk to each other. We are all connected on FB now. Facts can be checked in the blink of an eye. And many players were present in all the events mentioned. But just for the record from my side, Eddy never taught Mark or me anything about chess. In fact the match fixing got worse in Perak from the time he arrived.

Anyway back to the story. What was my point? Did I ever say that Mark was stronger than Yit San or Li Tian today? Go back to my evaluation on the National Junior. Here. In fact I said that Yit San is probably stronger than Li Tian and we are just trying to play catch up after Mark's STPM. So why the need to over defend? What is so frightening about a clean selection?

Actually I thought realistically we had chances for top 3 but not Champ and so we planned our strategy accordingly. If the National Close was held in May/June as per past practice then we would have had better chances. But March was a little too early and we had to cut short our training as well as we couldn't get in any high level conditioning tournaments before NC. But still we went and fought as best as we could. And in healthy competition.

So now let me give you a little more information and you can judge for yourself if it is related or not.

1. We made enquiries for HD to which there were no replies from the organiser. We only requested for information. We did not register. So isn't it funny that Mark's name was on the starting list? And then paired with Paulo on top of it? Mark and Paulo training. Here.

2. I was informed by the Deputy Chair of Selection at NC that they checked with Eddy Fong, who the official players for Perak should be and if he had any objections since Mark was second at Perak Close and qualifies on merit. Now Eddy is not in the State Association but he seems to be "consulted". Curious isn't it?

3. The money I paid for Mark to enter KL Open was returned to us by the Dep. President of KLCA at NC.

So all of these could just be coincidences. Or it could be circumstantial evidence of a collusion taking place. Here.

But there is a flip side as well isn't there? If they are so scared of us that all these things need to be done to try and stop us, then doesn't it also tell us that we must be heading in the right direction? Otherwise why are they so afraid of a "weak" player?